When Gildas Loaëc was 19 years old, he ran a small record shop in Paris. Among his customers were Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, better known as the arena-rocking robots of Daft Punk. "I was not super good at business at that time, and I was getting closer with them, and I ended up living with Guy-Manuel as his roommate, I will say, though it was kind of more like squatting," Loaëc says. As fate would have it, Daft Punk was just putting out their first single on the Scottish label, Soma, and they enlisted Loaëc to work with them in a tight five-person team including Daft Punk, Pedro Winter aka Busy P, and a mystery person Loaëc describes as a third, behind-the-scenes member of Daft Punk. Of the next 15 years spent with the group, Loaëc says, "I learned a lot of things with them in terms of style and marketing. We were trying to make it happen and make the story grow."

Since then, Loaëc has kept busy running a clothing company and record label with creative partner Masaya Kuroki. Maison Kitsuné puts out clothes that Japanese cool kids have been going crazy for, as evidenced by the brand's presence in 80 stores there. They're simple staples that feel like American classics, made by French dudes.

After our interview, Loaëc invited us out to Kitsuné Club Night. It's a touring showcase of the label and the first they've done in the U.S.; Loaëc DJed, followed by performances from other Kitsuné acts. And much to our surprise, when Loaëc came down from the stage, he introduced us to one of the aforementioned masked robots.

With a new partnership with Downtown records and the first U.S. Kitsuné store opening in March at the new NYC hotel Nomad, expect to hear a lot more about Kitsuné in the future. Here, Loaëc tells us about some of the souvenirs he prizes most from his journey so far.